Pirates rally, avoid upset

The Granbury Pirates avoided an upset Tuesday night, rallying for two second-half goals to win 2-1 at Alvarado in a District 15-4A soccer match.

Kaleb Wilson scored the game-winning goal off of an assist from Freddy Espinoza. It was his second assist of the game as he assisted Fernando Aguado on the game-tying goal with 16 minutes left in the contest.

“Fernando has been playing outstanding lately, and Freddy was also outstanding,” said Granbury coach Doug Kissinger.

The victory left the Pirates (6-3-5 overall) with a 3-1 district record. They are tied with Stephenville (9-2, 3-1) for second, each with six standings points.

Teams receive two points for a victory and one for a tie. Cleburne (12-1-1, 4-0) leads with eight standings points.

“Going into the half was kind of a shock,” said Kissinger.

“We worked it good in the second half and were in the Alvarado end for most of the second half.”

Alvarado (0-14, 0-4) scored on a free kick to lead 1-0 at the intermission.

“We get our marks and get organized, but as soon as the ball is kicked we just stare at it,” said Kissinger. “It came down, and they wound up with a 4-on-1.”

Despite their record, Kissinger said he was wary of Alvarado.

“They really haven’t given up a whole lot (of goals),” he said. “They have a little bit of talent here and there, but as far as having it all together, not necessarily.

“But as you can see, they can be dangerous.”

Technically, the Pirates are in third place in district because they lost 2-1 at home to Stephenville last week. The tiebreaker in the district is goal differential. Stephenville and Cleburne are plus-7 and Granbury is plus-3.

“We need to get a few 3-0 wins and for Stephenville and Cleburne to score a little less,” said Kissinger.

The Pirates were playing at Cleburne last night to wrap up the first half of district.